Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert

Book review of Elizabeth Gilbert’s
Committed

I’ve read a very interesting book called Committed, it was published 2010 and the author is Elizabeth Gilbert. The book is a freestanding sequel to eat, pray and love; both of them are love stories. But Committed also fits into the genres biography and literary history. Gilbert writes about her life at present time and a special obstacle she suddenly has to face in her love life. In order to find contentment in her life changing decision, she takes you on an investigative journey thru both history and cultural landscapes. She shares her own life experiences and thoughts on the issue, as well as other opinions and points of view.
The first book; eat, pray and love ends when Elizabeth meet a Brazilian gentleman called Felipe in Bali. They fall madly in love; they bond completely and make a vow to each other, to always stay together but never to get married. They both have a history of failed marriages, that’s why they promised never to enter the matrimonial path again. Committed starts when the two have been a couple for over two years, Felipe is a businessman who can work anywhere in the world, Elizabeth is a writer so her work also allows her to travel. Elizabeth is in her mid-thirties, she is American, and all her family is living in America. Therefore it’s natural to return to America when their romantic journey in Bali comes to an end. They have a started building their first home together, and because Felipe doesn’t have a permanent American visa they leave the country now and then in order to get his visa extended. This is not a big issue for them since they both have some of their work abroad. But it’s a big issue for The United States Department of Homeland Security. One time when Felipe and Elizabeth is about to enter the States, the immigration office won’t let Felipe into the country, because he is not an American citizen, but he is returning back to the States like it’s his home. This leaves them with little choice; get married or Felipe will never be let into America again.
This is the obstacle this whole book is about. Of course they will get married even if they said they never wanted to, if that is what it takes to be together. But it’s not an issue that is fixed overnight; Felipe is not let into the States during the ten months it takes for the Homeland Security to make a decision, if they are allowed to get married in the States or not. So they travel together for nearly a year impatiently and patiently at times. While hoping to soon be able to return to America and build their own home, they travel through Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia and Indonesia just to mention a few places. And while doing all that restless traveling Elizabeth is trying to find out what marriage really is about, how people in other cultures look at it, how marriage has developed historically to be what is it today.
The text in the book is really nice to read, it has a nice flow. The sentences are not too long or too short. The language is relaxed, more average than formal. Since it’s an American book the language for me was a little bit harder to understand than the British books I’m used to, but the more new words I learned. The story is written in a chronological order, with a lot of love and some humour but most importantly passion. I say love because you can tell that it took some research for Elizabeth to write this book, and great deal of reflection and thinking. She makes you think and reflect upon things too when you read, and I think that is her message in the book. That there are so many reasons to get married or not to get married, but it might not just be yours and your fiancé’s decision, there can be so many more reasons and expectations.
What I really like about this book is all the little stories Elizabeth tells that are happening on the way, like this one “I was captivated by the monks. They were a fascinating distraction for me. I completely fixated on them. In fact, I was so captivated by the monks that, after a few languid days spent doing nothing much in this small Laotian town, I commenced to spying on them…” She also tells stories about her family, like her grandmother’s marriage she shares a lot of experiences and wisdom, and it makes the book so much more interesting. From my point of view this can be a good book to read for both genders, but a little bit of interest in marriage will make it an even better experience. I will definitely recommend reading this book, it makes you think and it opens your eyes. I enjoyed reading it, because I learned a lot and I got to know Elizabeth thru this book and she is a cool person. But also because it wasn’t the typical book I would read (it wasn’t a chick lit), it wasn’t exiting or dramatic in that way it was more instructive and worth considering.

Written by Caroline